The most important thing to know about this exemplary set of homiletical meditations by Fr. Brian Pierce that follow the life of Jesus from the Incarnation to the Resurrection is that although Pierce belongs to what is commonly referred to as the Dominican Order, this book reveals that his true religious identity lies in the official name that Saint Dominic gave to his new group in the early part of the thirteenth century, the Order of Preachers. At its heart this book is nothing more and nothing less than an authentic expression of the Dominican charism to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ.
But what is the nature of the Good News as preached by Pierce? That brings me to the second most important aspect of the book, its fundamental or controlling idea. As a book in the genre of Christian spirituality in a particularly pronounced homiletical mode, it has no systematic argument or doctrinal point to make; however, it does have a center or “beating heart.” As the title suggests, it has to do with Luke's Parable of the Prodigal Son as a reflection of divine mercy. Here, Pierce takes the rather radical idea put forth by one of the greatest English-speaking spiritual writers of our time, Henry Nouwen, in his own book, The Return of the Prodigal Son (1992). Nouwen suggests in that book that Jesus, the Beloved Son of God, also takes on the identity of the Prodigal Son on our behalf, for our salvation. In other words, echoing 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” Pierce (pace Nouwen) puts forth the notion that in the paschal mystery “Jesus becomes the sinner in his trial and crucifixion, giving away his very life in solidarity with the poor, the condemned and with sinners of all ages. … Jesus, the prodigal Son, journeys to the distant country of brokenness and sin precisely to rescue and bring home both victim and victimizer” (85). For Pierce that is Good News, that is genuine divine mercy, and that is what he “preaches” time and time again in his book.
The third aspect of this book worth mentioning is the wide range of voices Pierce brings to bear on what is more or less a series of homiletical reflections and personal stories on this theme of mercy. Besides fellow Dominicans like Timothy Radcliff and Albert Nolan, we hear from many (too many to name here), ranging from the scholarly, like Balthasar, Barth, Gutiérrez, and Pagola, to the pastoral and poetic, like Pope Francis, Julia Esquivel, Elie Wiesel, and Martin Luther King Jr., to those persons known personally to Pierce, like Roger, Mel, and Louis. This plethora of perspectives that Pierce engages grounds his reflections, builds sound connections to the reader, and authenticates his insights. This makes the book not merely an autobiographical exercise, which would have been problematic on a variety of levels, but a communal and ecclesial one that is enriching and profound.
While I cannot recommend the book for typical undergraduate or graduate courses on Christology or the Synoptic Gospels, I truly believe it would be put to good use in a specialized class in contemporary Christian spirituality, or better yet, a homiletics class in a seminary or in the graduate setting. At the same time I think it would work wonderfully in an adult Christian formation group/bible study in a parish or simply for one's own theo-spiritual edification. While very few of us will actually get to hear Pierce preach the Good News of Jesus the Beloved/Prodigal Son from the pews, this book gives splendid access to what it would be like if we could actually be there.
